Identified in just-captured underground security video by his big ears, the Hamas leader is being cut off underground in besieged southern Gaza, awaiting an IDF push to Rafah and the Egyptian border.

Yahya Sinwar has gone to ground, and in the last two weeks there has been no proof that he is still alive or in control. Yesterday evening, after a dramatic delay, the IDF released footage purportedly Sinward and his family from just 3 days after the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel.

It was not clear why the IDF chose to released this video of more than four months old except as additional psychological pressure on the fugitive terror kingpin. He doesn’t seem so brave no, and he risks inviting a bloodbath of civilians that surround him, along with Israeli hostages, in this southernmost area of the Gaza Strip. That may well be a price he is willing to pay if it brings down international wrath on Israel and aims to stop its promised offensive to destroy “the last bastions,” in PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s words, of Hamas’ military strength, with only 6 of 24 battallions remaining intact and capable of battle.